I needed to buy a very cheap electric kettle in Chandigarh where I was for a few days. Since all the major brands make large one-litre electric kettles, I thought I would choose a product by a small and cheap no-name brand called Baltra. It cost Rs.300.
The product arrived in a couple of days, but when I turned it on, there was a burning smell. This wasn’t really a defect. It’s just that this very inexpensive product is poorly designed. They have designed it so that the Bakelite housing is very close to the element. So, it overheats and burn slightly.
I complained to Let’sBuy, and their contact center person said that I needed to first take it to the local service center. If the service center said it was defective, they would send me a replacement once I sent the defective unit back.
It turned out that the cheap Baltra brand did not have a service center in Chandigarh. So what did Let’sBuy do? They generously just sent out a replacement unit and they did not even want the original defective one back. So now, I have to electric kettles for Rs.300! I tinkered with them and now they are both very good.
I like that LetsBuy is run by honest people. It’s just a good feeling. However, I’m a little unhappy about their return policy. if I went to a real store and the product they gave me was defective upon delivery, they would just take it back, no questions asked. They won’t ask me to take it to a service center and bring proof that it’s defective.
I guess that’s how it has to be an a country like India where the online market is a small one. If it were a huge market like it is in the rich countries, they could afford to provide all kinds of conveniences.
I’m also worried about how they want me to send it back to them. If it’s a large object, that would be very expensive.